Don’t let its title fool you: quirky Powerwash Simulator took the gaming world by storm last year for a good reason.
Jagged Alliance 3 still feels like a PC game on console, but works admirably under its strict control limitations.
We take a look at Zen Studios’ Pinball M, a separate, mature-rated pinball platform and its launch run of tables based on popular properties such as The Thing and Child’s Play.
Ashbourne Games’ Last Train Home is one of the most unique and captivating RTS and management experiences you are bound to have.
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is the sort of tie-in game that does its source material justice while providing an enjoyable gameplay loop that will keep you entertained for quite a while. No doubt, it feels derivative in the way its structure is without a doubt built like a modern day Ubisoft product, with bases to take over, upgrade paths to take and increasingly busier maps with elements to check off a list.
If you are a fan of excellent writing and don’t mind having to read more than your usual share of text in a game, as there is a whole bunch of it in these games, you’ll find them to be extremely clever and bursting with personality. It’s a shame that the series is on hold, but hopefully with the success in sales of this and other similar collections, maybe Capcom will finally bring gaming’s top lawyer back to where he belongs, and not just as a criminally underused character in one of their Vs fighters. Yes, I’m looking at you, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3!
Arrowhead’s newest multiplayer slaughterfest Helldivers 2 is a blast to play thanks to its over-the-top presentation, hilariously chaotic moment-to-moment gameplay and excellent team mechanics.
Nostalgia is the fuel that powers Top Racer Collection, and in that regard, it succeeds at providing a lot for your retro buck if you’re looking to take a trip down memory lane and enjoy the best that there was in 16-bit wheel to wheel racing. Frankly, I would’ve loved to see more bonus material in the form of design docs and other knick knacks and emulation options, as they would make this more historically valid as some other compilations.
Balatro is in equal measures a sensational and maddening roguelike deck-building experience that will keep you going for that all-so-close high score for hours upon hours.
It’s a little baffling to me why it took publisher GungHo this long to bring Grandia HD Collection to more consoles, nearly five years after its initial run. There’s likely a perfectly good reason for that, but still, it’s kind of silly when you think about it. Nonetheless, they are finally out on just about every single current console and on PC now, so this is your best bet at getting two of the finest RPGs – easy the highlights of the franchise too – in honestly their best form they’re likely to ever be.
The PC version of Horizon Forbidden West is positively beautiful!
Freedom Planet 2 takes what worked in the first game and leaps to greater heights, offering a visually pleasing, dexterity-challenging, and what’s most important, a rewarding time for those who dig exploring every nook and cranny in search of secrets. You are bound to find a few in this gorgeous game which I’m glad it’s coming back for a second most deserved outing.
Dave the Diver offers up a delightfully fresh take in a whole bunch of gaming genres that just works.
There’s no denying that Half Mermaid Productions and Barlow have a knack for serving truly unique gameplay experiences, but they go beyond merely having their quirky style serve as a gimmick and crunch on which a game like Immortality can lean on. There’s actually an incredible amount of obvious care that has gone into making it something that folks will want to get through by providing a narrative that in all of its nonlinearity is shocking, but most importantly, very compelling, for as overused as that adjective is in gaming.
I’m positively surprised by the end product after such a short window between its announcement and release, less than a week apart from each other. Zen and Nightdive have done a terrific job keeping it all hush-hush and I couldn’t be happier with how System Shock Pinball has turned out. So much so that I’m anxious to see what’s next on their plate for both Pinball FX and Pinball M.
New Star GP is the sort of racing game that comes every now and then that truly gets a hold of me and is unwilling to let go until it has its way with me. Last time I felt this strongly about the genre was with the very first Gran Turismo on the PlayStation, and prior to that, the arcade version of Daytona USA. If you have any interest in arcade gaming and are willing to invest some time into surprisingly meatier career mode, New Star GP will have you covered for a while.
Who would’ve guessed that a game based on a very traditional novel series from Japan would turn out this way? The last time Record of Lodoss War had any significant presence in games was during the Dreamcast days with an equally excellent, although similarly derivative Diablo-like. Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth is tightly designed, a joy to look at and most importantly, is ridiculously respectful of your time, making it an absolute must-play Switch release.
Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin is a brainless character action game that somewhat retells the events of the original Final Fantasy in a fashion that’s very Team Ninja, read: really silly.
Following up on Pinball FX3’s excellent catalog of Williams tables, Indiana Jones: The Pinball Adventure is very much worth picking up, even if you haven’t much of a collection of tables for the game. The base Pinball FX3 is free to begin with, so if this is your first time playing, feel free to try it out first before forking over for new levels. And of course, if you’ve yet to buy a FlipGrip, do yourself a favor and grab one, it’ll make playing this THAT much better.
If you’re already into both of the Judgment games, you’ll know what to expect out of this DLC. It’s got more of the quality writing that manages to expertly mix humorous moments with extremely serious themes, which is a mainstay of the Yakuza series as a whole and continues to be so here. I’ll never need an excuse to jump back and explore that world, and having a story as great as this is more than enough reason to sniff and keep my ears perked around the seedy well-threaded streets of Tokyo’s fictional red light district again and again.